Exposure Therapy
Exposure therapy is based on the principle that we get used to things that are just annoying and not truly dangerous. This is called habituation, and it occurs naturally in over 95% of people.
Exposure therapy is the opposite of how people typically respond to anxiety which is avoidance. Because while avoidance may provide temporary relief, it just doesn't last. Facing triggers for anxiety is the key to reducing the frequency and severity of PTSD symptoms.
Exposure may be done in real life or in imagination. It is believed by some that real life exposure is more effective than imaginal exposure. While anxiety or other discomfort may get worse in the first few minutes of real life exposure, it is important to continue exposure until the discomfort and anxiety has diminished. Escaping discomfort only reinforces avoidance as a coping tactic, and produces all the limitations associated with avoidance-like avoiding safe places or situations that might be fun, beneficial or essential for a career and a full family life. It also increases the likelihood that the anxiety might spread, first to similar triggers and eventually to triggers that have little or nothing to do with the original anxiety. Examples of exposure are resuming driving after being in an accident or returning to a now-safe site where an assault once occurred.
Exposure in imagination involves the person recounting traumatic memories until they lose they no longer cause excessive distress. This can be done by saying them aloud repeatedly, writing, reading and rewriting a biography of the events or recording them on a tape and playing them over and over until they are no longer distressing.
